Newsletters, Are they The Devil? Sources Say Perhaps!

 

 I just recently unsubscribed from a bunch of email newsletters I was receiving. Actually, the decision came with the realization that to keep up with emails from clients, I had to get rid of the junk mail that was flooding my inbox.

Most of these newsletters came to me because I forgot to uncheck "Subscribe me to the newsletter" when I was checking out after a purchase. 

A few of them are from online webinars I took, that immediately subscribed me to their newletter afterwards. I guess they want to make sure that I'm aware of every single webinar they could potentially provide, on the off chance that one of them might be of interest.

Some of these, like Ladders.com, I convinced myself would be of benefit to my career. Unfortunately, Ladders.com's newsletter is pure trash. Every article had some selacious title like;

"Spot the Narc!: How to spot a malignant narcissist in your workplace"

Cut to the chase, basically anyone who isn't doing what you want them to in that moment is a malignant narcissist. Way to foster paranoia and distrust in the workplace Ladders!

"Is your Boss a Sociopath? 10 Easy Ways To Tell"

Does your boss ask you to do things you don't want to, that don't benefit you personally but instead serve the needs of some faceless corporation? If so, you may be employed! That's what work life is! Not everything is about allowing you to self actualize and indulge in your innermost desires.

I take a special kind of annoyance with these emails. I think the proliferation of pop-psychology leads to ganging up against or ostracizing someone in an office setting because they check certain boxes. 

"You didn't laugh at my joke!"

"Sorry, I didn't realize it was a joke. I just felt sorry for you."

 "You didn't laugh. Yet everyone else did?"

"I think that's called a pity laugh. Maybe you're just not funny?"

"NO! You must be a sociopath!"

It was a pleasure checking the "Unsubscribe" box on that little gem. 

There was a hot minute when I was subscribed to "Stage 32" a group that puts on webinars and supposedly arranges pitch meetings for aspiring screen writers and show runners.

They send upwards of five newsletters in a day, talking about all their upcoming courses and success stories.

They also make you pay to pitch with "industry professionals."

I tossed them out of my inbox like a live grenade.

Most of these other Newletters came once a week, which I feel is still too much. There simply isn't enough going on from week to week that an update is required.

 In trying to fill up a newsletter to meet that deadline, you have to stuff it with a lot of fluff pieces. That just makes it an annoyance and causes people to disregard any pertinent information that might be mixed in there.

I still subscribe to a newletter from my biggest Patreons, The Grimerica Show. Although we don't agree on most topics, and had a difficult time working together in the past, they're newsletter is at least entertaining.

The Grimerica Show started as a paranormal podcast, and evolved into a conspirarcy theory and alternative news show. They send out a newsletter once a month, which I think is just the right amount of time. 

In it, they talk about developments in their office, new audiobooks and interviews they're working on and links to articles that might be of interest to readers. 

It's structured in such a way that you get a short blurb, with enough information to communicate the main points of a piece and a picture. You can click the picture to get the full article, or if it isn't something of interest, then you can scroll to the next.

For instance, I really don't care about their alternative cures to Covid articles, but I am interested in an upcoming interviews with people who believe they can astral project through their dreams. 

Do I believe it? Not really, but it's an interesting read.

My News Letter

I recently sat down and wrote out a marketing plan to try and get help from a contact of mine. 

I feel like my process, in trying to build an audience for my existing audiodrama episodes, in order to pitch the show as a series, could be something we put in the newsletter.

To try and draw in more of an audience, were planning a new season (which we need investors and sponsors for) and rebooting the comic book series that the podcast evolved from.

I'm also considering rewriting my original novel, to give a more in depth look at aspects of the characters back stories which would be too heavy or convoluted for a comic or audiodrama. 

It's a lot of work, and I should be bringing people in on the experience. I just personally prefer solitude and not having a bunch of correspondences to attend to, in addition to everything else. 

Still, I guess that's how you do that "relationship building" thing everyone's so hot about.

In addition to this, we have a lot of travel pics and art that we could share. I've been working them into the plotline of the show.

We seem to have better luck engaging with random strangers, who strike up conversations with us at the nursery or the cheese shop than we do with more podcast/audiodrama centric crowds. Probably because we're not trying to conform to the scene, and prove our mettle to some smug ex-AV club president gone podcaster.

"Oh, you do an audiodrama? Name three you actually listen to? I'll wait." 

I like to make up random show names in Russian or French and say,

"Oh, you don't follow the European circuit? How typical."

Have fun Googling that kiddo.

My husband and I used to do a lot of meet ups and conventions, but we've really lost interest in that. People there are too single minded and if you aren't already doing something they're interested in, they ignore you. More than that, they stand there and pick apart your work point by point.

People who are in the trade don't really make for great audience members. There's too much insecurity and bloviating to prove whose the mightier creator.

We need to find a way to promote our work to new people. I'm considering doing a facebook ad that brings people to a landing page and signs them up for a newsletter. 

I have to make some kind of cute video to lure them in. I'm working on it.

I actually have a Mail Chimp account all set up. The cute little chimp sends me emails with my page analytics and asks me why I haven't taken advantage of all the free templates her has waiting for me. 

I just need to actually bring myself to it.